


Get Up There And Make Some Trouble

by Ineffable_Idiot



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Crowley's Name is Crawly | Crawley (Good Omens), Developing Friendships, Enemies to Friends, Eventual Fluff, First Crush, Fluff, He/Him Pronouns For Crowley (Good Omens), Meet-Cute, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Canon, Snake Crowley (Good Omens), The Garden of Eden, They/Them Pronouns for Aziraphale (Good Omens), but less enemies and more like pre-destined rivals, just an angel and a snakey boi being cute, like THE VERY FIRST crush, while you were busy being angelically cute I stole your blade
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:08:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27575662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ineffable_Idiot/pseuds/Ineffable_Idiot
Summary: An angel and a demon became friends on the wall of Eden as Adam and Eve were cast out. But they'd first met before then, when the Garden was still lush with life and home to the humans.
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10





	1. Earth; Day Three

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what inspired this, I just know this was bouncing around my head for a while and it demanded to be written, so here it is!

_Get up there and make some trouble._

Those were his instructions. Seven words. They seemed simple enough, and Crawley had been confident he could follow them with no problem when he'd slithered up to the Garden three days ago. Only...

It's been three whole days since he'd been given this mission, and the only real trouble he'd caused so far was startling Eve when he'd hissed at her after she'd accidentally stepped on his tail. Of course, that wasn't going to please the revenge-hungry demons who'd sent him up here at all. They wanted to stick it to Heaven for casting them out, and they wanted to do it _soon._

The problem was the planet was only three days old, there wasn't much trouble to be caused.

Yet.

The Garden might only be one small part of the new world, but it was vast. There had to be _something_ to do. And Crawley was going to find that something one way or another.

He just needed to not get smote before he could do so.

One thing Crawley _had_ been able to find out was that there was an angel in Eden along with him, Adam, and Eve. Further investigation revealed said angel was in possession of a _sword_. That was _on fire_. No doubt to protect the humans from the likes of Crawley, so he decided to make it a point to stay as far away from this angel as possible.

If only he knew that would end up being easier said than done.

* * *

**Late-afternoon**

Down by the river was a very good pondering space, Crawley decided. Very relaxing, easy to think about how best to cause trouble down here. The humans had never ventured this far down the river, so he had never been interrupted. 

So who could blame him, really, when the calming trickle of the water and complete lack of bustling around eventually lulled him to sleep on a sun-bathed boulder? 

His rest was uneventful, as dreams hadn't yet been invented. It was enough to simply exist in peace. 

Until that peace was broken. 

A rustling sounded from a small ways upstream, a rustling more pronounced than the usual wind whispering through the trees. Crawley lifted his head, eyes bleary as he returned to reality. 

The sight he was met with made him wriggle back in alarm hard enough to fall backwards off the boulder.

The angel from before was sitting just a little ways upstream. 

Crawley coiled up until he was completely hidden behind the rock. Not out of fear, of course, demons didn't get scared. He waited, mind reeling for ways he could get away alive, or even fight the angel off. He was strong, he could encircle the angel with his body and squeeze, debilitate them. Wait, how strong were angels? Could this one just peel him off like... whatever you could peel something off of? Well, he was pretty sure he was venomous, but he had no clue if the poison would work on a holy being. He'd never bitten a holy being before... At least the bite would hurt, and pain was a good distraction.

A few moments of contemplation passed before he realized nothing had happened. The angel hadn't advanced, hadn't come around to attack. In fact, Crawley hadn't heard any motion from where the angel was. 

Hesitantly, he slithered around the boulder, just enough to peer at the angel. 

They were kneeling on the edge of the riverbank, with a hand gently creating ripples in the water, and a serene smile on their face. One of the aquatic creatures, a newer addition to the planet, splashed around, and the angel leaned in closer to see.

It didn't look like they'd noticed him at all. If he was quiet and quick, he could escape unharmed.

Or maybe that wasn't what he ought to do. Maybe the angel's appearance was a stroke of luck. He _had_ been sent to make some trouble. Killing an angel would have to sustain the rest of Hell at least for a while, right?

Pressing himself low enough to stay mostly concealed by the grass, he crept out of his hiding spot, and drew nearer to his white-clad rival. 

The closer he crept to the unsuspecting angel, the less confident he became with his plan. While yes, this angel was currently vulnerable to anything Crawley could do, they were a lot larger and potentially stronger than him, especially in this form. Not to mention, he didn't really have much of a battle plan, which was something he really ought to have before trying to take down an angel.

This was a bad idea, he should just leave the angel be and find something else to...

Wait a minute.

As he turned to flee, er, nonchalantly make his way to the safety of the forest, he found a streak of sunlight reflecting off something in the grass.

The angel's sword, that was decidedly not aflame at the moment, lay on the ground just behind the angel.

Hmm... It would be a shame if anything were to happen to such an important looking weapon, wouldn't it?

Carefully, he inched forward. The handle of the sword was a bit close to the angel, but it was also the part most out of their sight, perfect for snatching in his jaw and then slithering for his life. 

He was just able to close his mouth around the handle before the angel gave a sharp gasp. Crawley froze, ready to spontaneously create the fight-or-flight response, but their attention had just been caught by a colorful bird. 

Now or never. 

He clamped down on the handle and made to take off. Unfortunately, God didn't make backward motion easy for snakes. His coils just would not stop getting in the way, and his escape was getting much more conspicuous than he needed. He couldn't make more than a few inches back before he had to stop and realign himself.

"Oh!" 

Crawley's gaze rose, and his stomach sank.

The angel was staring right down at him, eyes wide. 

Well, he'd definitely made some trouble now.

Seeing as he had no idea how to wield a sword, much less with his mouth, Crawley spun around and dragged the weapon away as fast as he could. It was surprisingly easy to carry, and now that he was facing the right direction, he soared across the ground. He could hear the angel scrambling to their feet behind him, giving a yelp of alarm. At either their sword being stolen, or it being stolen by a demon specifically, Crawley wasn't sure. But he did know he had to make himself scarce _now._

Luckily the tree line wasn't far from the river, and he went to circle up one of the trees. What he hadn't calculated was the extra weight of the sword that pulled him back to the ground. 

No time to try scaling the tree again, the angel was far too close for comfort. The nearest thing that could possibly slow the angel down was a fairly large shrubbery. He leapt into the leaves, winding up and around the branches near the trunk, the blade of the sword pressing uncomfortably against his body but not piercing him. His tail disappeared into the foliage just before the angel closed their hand around it. 

"Oh no! Please come back! I don't want to hurt you, I just need that sword!" 

Crawley could see the angel trying to push back branches and peer through the leaves as they protested, but he remained curled around the trunk. Why should he believe they wouldn't hurt him? They're an _angel,_ he thought bitterly. Though he'd been one too not long ago, an angel wouldn't show him any remorse or mercy now. 

He released the handle of the sword, lowered his head to the opening the angel had created, and gave another defiant hiss.

Their expression held only worry and distress, and Crawley could feel a distinct sense of guilt seeping in... 

No.

He turned away, determined to ignore those pleading blue eyes gazing back at him.

That determination gradually ebbed away over the section of time that would later be known as half an hour. By then, the angel had backed off from the shrub, but Crawley could hear them continue to stress over the lost weapon. They'd gone around the bushes as if to find another angle to grab the sword back, but to no avail. And with each futile effort they made, Crawley could feel that guilt return with a vengeance. Eventually all noises outside the bush had ceased, and he figured the angel must have left. 

He should've felt triumphant. But when he skulked out into the open to find the angel was gone, what he was feeling was the furthest thing from triumph.


	2. Earth; Day Four

No. No way he was really going to do this.

In hindsight, what Crawley should've done was taken the sword down to Hell and left it there. Physical proof that he'd robbed an angel would've at least appeased the demons who'd sent him up to this godforsaken - or, rather, not yet godforsaken - Garden, not to mention prevented this crisis he was currently having. 

But he'd stayed on Earth and kept the bloody thing.

Why? Good question, he had spent all night trying to figure that out himself. He'd learned firsthand he _really_ couldn't use it in this serpent form he'd been wearing, so there wasn't much he could do with it aside from continue to drag it around. At least it hadn't reignited into flames. He might have been plenty acquainted with fire, but he wasn't looking to burn the Garden down while he and those two humans were in it.

The thought of returning the weapon to its owner had crossed his mind more times than it probably should've through the night. By the time the sun had risen over the walls of Eden, he didn't have much of a choice. Well, he had two choices, it wasn't too late to bring the sword back to Hell.

But no. He was really going to do this.

Finding the angel wasn't as hard as he'd thought it would be. The river they'd first crossed paths at led to a lake in the middle of a clearing. After a while of meandering down the riverbank, Crawley found the angel examining some berry bushes at the edge of said clearing. Their air of contentment from the previous day had vanished, and their wings drooped low enough for feathers to lay flat on the ground.

He did still feel guilty, try as he had to stop, he was a _demon,_ damn it. Fortunately he was too preoccupied to focus on his feelings now, he had a plan. That plan being get the sword next to the angel, drop it, and slither for his life. Simple and easy to follow. Nothing he could screw up at all.

Silently, he weaved through the grass, rounding the lake and creeping up behind the angel yet again, the handle of the sword clenched tightly in his jaw. 

He'd been so close to a flawless execution of the plan, it would have gone perfectly had the angel not turned to face him with a handful of berries right as he was about to drop the weapon.

Both beings froze as their eyes met.

The angel let out a small gasp, glancing between Crawley's face and the blade.

Oh, no.

Something in the back of Crawley's mind yelled at him to _stick to the plan!_ He released the handle and nudged it closer to the angel, ready to get away before he got sliced to pieces. Or picked up and hurled into the lake. Or smote down by their angelic -

"Oh, thank you!"

...what?

The angel was... smiling down at him, relief laced into their voice. They picked the sword up from where it lay on the ground to place it at their side, well out of Crawley's reach, and their wings perked up once again.

"I've been so worried, thank you for returning this."

Taking a berry from their palm, they held it out to Crawley, brows raised expectantly.

Out of all the reactions he'd expected the victim of his thievery to have, this hadn't been one of them. Had they really just... forgiven him that easily?

Hesitantly, not entirely convinced this wasn't some kind of trap, he crept closer and flicked out his tongue to wrap around the small fruit. He jolted back, swallowing the berry whole in one go and recoiling at the peculiar taste and feel in his mouth, but the angel didn't seem to mind.

"There you go, you wily thing," they beamed. Their features relaxed, and they lowered themself down face to face with Crawley. "Aren't you quite a fascinating creature?"

If he'd had any eyebrows, Crawley's would've raised in surprise. He'd been called many things since falling, the other demons seemed to have an endless plethora of things to refer to each other as. 'Fascinating' wasn't a word thrown around the halls of Hell. Hearing an angel of all beings use that word for him, while looking at him with what had to be the furthest thing from hatred in their soft blue eyes, stirred something inside him. Not the unease he'd been harboring this entire endeavor, though it was just as strong. It was something much different, but he couldn't exactly place what it was.

He _could_ place his utter confusion as to _why_ this angel hadn't obliterated him already. He was all too aware he practically had "evil" written all over him, and a dark, menacing snake didn't exactly blend in with the vibrant, beautiful paradise.

Though his appearance must not have mattered to the angel who had begun lightly tracing two fingers down the back of his neck... _oh._

That was a new feeling.

It wasn't as though Crawley had never been touched before. In fact, there were hardly any boundaries maintained with the damned. But all the contact down in Hell was rough and abrupt, nothing like this gentle, comforting touch the angel was giving him now. 

He shouldn't. He really shouldn't. This had to be dangerous, what if this _was_ some kind of elaborate trap? He should count not being discorporated yet as a win and leave...

The angel switched angles, using their whole hand now to stroke his scales, and Crawley melted into the touch. His tongue flickered out a bit and he let out a contented hiss. 

Dropping the forgotten berries to the ground, the angel propped up their head as their lips curved upwards. 

"You really are quite a nice little thing, aren't you?" 

Heh, if only they knew -

Crawley's eyes widened in realization.

They didn't _know._ They must think he's just another creature She created for the Garden. That _had_ to be the reason why they hadn't destroyed him. 

Well...

What they didn't know wouldn't kill them. Or him.

And if Crawley stayed with the affectionate angel for a while longer, then he'd just later chalk it up as testing the accuracy of that theory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally was gonna make this a platonic 'becoming friends in Eden before it went to hell' type thing, but yeah no, Crawley is just smitten for this angel whether he'll admit it or not. Can't help it, the muses have spoken.


End file.
